Face-Lift 70

Guess the Plot

Denim

1. An MBA student drops out of Stanford to start a dot-com auction site for second-hand blue jeans, only to get stuck with a warehouse full of old CK's when the market crashes.

2. I fell in love with Bob Dylan that summer. Unfortunately, Jerry Marconi fell in love with me.

3. Giles refuses to sleep with any woman, for fear she might be his sister. An angel and a demon join forces to "cure" him of his virginity.

4. A Mennonite teenager rebels against the 'no jeans' rule by fashioning undergarments of denim. Hilarity ensues.

5. A pair of heterosexual cowboys who live in the mountains churn out counterfeit jeans, until the Mafia moves in and breaks up the ring.

6. In an overcrowded premium denim market, designers say they would kill to have the edge. And apparently, one of them has.


Original Version

Imagine that you're adopted.

That wouldn't affect you too much would it? [Depends. Was I adopted by Bill Gates?] Sure, it might subtly change your relationship with your parents. [True, if Evil Editor's mum didn't have to spend nine months lugging me around in her stomach, and three hours trying to force me down an inch-wide birth canal, she probably wouldn't have resented my existence for the first thirty years of my life.] It would also give you the most powerful insult to fire at them during your teenage years. "You're not my real Mum/Dad!" But it wouldn't change who you are. Right?

So why is Giles approaching his forties, terminally single and still a virgin? [How many guesses do I get? He's extremely shy? He's extremely ugly? He's a computer programmer? He's gay? He's a monk? He doesn't bathe? He's been in jail twenty years? He spends 18 hours a day reading blogs? He's a eunuch? His mother kept him locked in a room in the basement for the last 30 years? He's a Trekkie? Okay, okay, he's adopted?] Adopted in the late 60's at six weeks of age, he's never had a girlfriend. He's always known that he's adopted, [because his parents are both black, and he's Chinese,] but never known if he has any birth-siblings. Every time he comes close to a woman, a fear that she might be his sister takes over.

This is the central theme to my comic drama, Denim. Set in the public bar of a British public house, and home to Giles and his father Stuart, we witness as his friends and the drinking regulars endeavour to get him to get over this irrational fear with little success.

Unseen to the central cast, a demon with the sexual desire that would make a rabbit exhausted and an all to caring angel have set up residence; each trying to pair Giles off to further their own ends (sex as a sin, and love as a goal for future happiness). [They're like Statler and Waldorf, the grumpy old men in the balcony on The Muppet Show. Giles talks to a woman in the bar, and the angel says, "She's not your sister. She's not your sister. She's not your sister! She's been living in New Guinea her entire life, idiot!" And the demon says, "Schmuck! Take her upstairs and reem her, or I will!"]

When the supernatural duo join forces, the gain some ground - only to make Giles' worst fear a supposed reality. Who is the woman that Giles has fallen for? Who is her mother? And what are the demon and angel going to tell their bosses?

Denim is full length play (105 mins) in two acts for a cast of 10 - 13 (7M 6F max cast) and won the Production of the Year Award in the Southern Daily Echo's Curtain Call Award.

The first 15 minutes of the stage-formatted script or full manuscript is available for review on request. Thank you for you time and attention.


Revised Version

Imagine that you're adopted. Sure, that might subtly change your relationship with your parents, and give you a powerful insult to fire at them during your teenage years: "You're not my real Mum/Dad!" But it wouldn't change who you are, would it?

So why is Giles approaching his forties, terminally single and still a virgin? Adopted in the late 60's at six weeks of age, he's never had a girlfriend. He's always known he's adopted, but never known if he has any birth siblings. Every time he gets close to a woman, he's overcome by a fear that she might be his sister.

This is the central theme to my comic drama, Denim, set in the bar of a British public house that is home to Giles and his father Stuart. We watch as Giles's friends and the drinking regulars endeavour, with little success, to get him over his irrational fear.

Unseen to the central cast, a demon with a voracious sexual appetite, and an all-too-caring angel have set up residence, each trying to pair Giles off to further their own ends (sex as a sin, and love as an ideal). When the supernatural duo join forces, they gain some ground--only to make Giles's worst fear an apparent reality. Who is the woman that Giles has fallen for? Who is her mother? And what are the demon and angel going to tell their bosses?

Denim is a full length play (105 mins) in two acts for a cast of 10 - 13 (7M 6F max cast) and won the Production of the Year Award in the Southern Daily Echo's Curtain Call Competition. The script is available for review on request. Thank you for your time and attention.


Notes

Probably best to lean toward the comedy and away from the drama, so that nitpickers don't feel compelled to point out (as nitpicking Evil Editor is about to) that Giles, being, say, 39, has a mother who is older than 50. Giles thus needn't fear that any woman whose mother is younger than 50 is his sister. Asking a woman when her mother was born may be a bit awkward, but not as awkward as asking her to take a DNA test.

I didn't change much, content-wise. Watch the minor typos. If an editor finds five typos in a one-page letter, he may worry that he'll find 1500 typos in a 300-page manuscript. He may think, Screw that.